"FPW rules with Regiments as the basic unit...." Topic

So I'm looking for a suggestion for the Franco-Prussian War that has Regiments as the basic maneuver unit.

I'm thinking of something that fills the gap between "Bloody Big Battles" and "Chassepot & Needlegun".

Thanks for any tips.

Age of Valor: Age of Eagles add on. Uses the base Age of Eagles rules with changes to the charts and a couple rules to give the period feel.

Fire and Furia Francese rules here: link

I guess Black Powder could work too with some movement and range tweaks.

Age of Valor is brigade level. We use the Age of Valor mods with Fire and Fury (on which Age of Eagles is based). I think that you could do something similar at a regimental level using Regimental Fire and Fury as the base. That being said, I suspect that you'll find that most battles are best done at a brigade level.

I usually think of the units in the Neil Thomas Nineteenth Century rules as regiments, although a specific unit scale isn't stated.

another vote for Neil Thomas Nineteenth Century rules

Age of Valor works fine with rgts. I USE german regiments and most often Fr brigades. cavalry in both too with 4 hits per rgt.

Bruce Weigle's ‘1870' and ‘1871' are based on regiments

I also use 1871. One base is a bataillon, so three bases are a regiment.

I use 28mm miniatures and base 6cm*5cm. We scale 150% of the original rules (which are written for 6mm).

I like the look that bases dont touch it other. So it is a different look to napoleonics.

I think Regimental Fire & Fury would work almost as is. You need to add stats to the firing tables for the Chassepot and mitrailleuse, but other than that, most of the differences in feel and flavor can be represented with unit stats and organization. I think it would also be a good idea to change the ground scale to 40-50 yd/inch and make the stands represent 80-100 men each, to accommodate the larger size of FPW units and battles, but that requires a lot of work making a custom QRS.

The book WARGAMING IN HISTORY Vol. 8: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 contains a Regimental Fire & Fury variant for the Austro-Prussian War with some additional interesting ideas for representing and managing the large skirmish clouds of the period. I got this book from On Military Matters, but it's probably also available at Caliver Books.

To be sure, this still doesn't really use the regiment as the maneuver unit. Regiments in the FPW were 2-3 battalions in the field, often brigaded with a light infantry battalion. In RF&F all of these move independently under the same command roll, putting the player in the position of brigade commander.

- Ix

Thanks all for the kind replies. Lots to think about.

The venerable " Fields of Honor" by Shane Lacy Hensley allows play at the regimental level. Straightforward mechanisms and quick play in my experience.

1871 would give a quick game. In a pinch you could base in rgt and use some counters to keep in "bn" and hits.

"They Died For Glory" Basic unit is a battalion. Three battalions make up a regiment. Similar to "Chassepot & Needlegun". May not be what you're looking for.

link

link

Good point by Yellow Admiral. An ACW regiment is effectively equivalent to an FPW battalion (assuming that each is at something approaching full strength, which was obviously often not the case for both sides in the ACW and for the French in the FPW). I would still choose to adapt RFF or BFF for the FPW because the mechanisms work and are readily scalable. Age of Valor does a lot of the work for you. I would certainly buy 1870 and 1871 for the wealth of information, but the rules aren't a patch on RFF or BFF.

Volley and Bayonet. Each stand is 1500-3000 men, so 1 regiment (which in the FPW would be 3 battalions) per stand. The first edition of the rules had a St. Privat scenario. The 2nd edition V&B (Road to Glory) still can handle the war, but only contains Napoleonic scenarios. The Volley and Bayonet web page ( volleyandbayonet.wordpress.com ) has more FPW scenarios and the blog owner plays FPW all the time with his 6mm collection.

I was going to suggest V&B as an alternative to Neil Thomas. Another option is Horse, Foot and Guns, where the stands represent a few thousand men (so again, FPW regiments). You need a lot of artillery stands for HFG though.

I have been tinkering with NachParis, published by Paul koch and Roger Wells in the Courier back in the mid 80's. French regiments are three stands, Prussian regiments are four stands. it has some interesting mechanics. You can tell the authors really love the period. It can be a tough period to game. The Prussian artillery dominates the battlefield. If it doesn't manage to soften up the French, French small arms will wipe out most Prussian attacks. NachParis is available free online.

SomuaS35, thanks for the tip for Nach Paris. The rules look like they are worth trying.